Western Union is popular for its seamless and effective cross-border, cross-currency money transfer services, the international firm is now taking its services to mobile users by integrating its Malaysian operations with Valyou Mobile Wallet.
Seen as a strategic collaboration between the two companies, the integration will enable local customers to now send money to Western Union agent locations across Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, China and Nigeria, with a few clicks using the Valyou mobile wallet app. This will increase the speed of transfer phenomenally, giving customers a near instant process of having money moved via the apps.
The Valyou mobile wallet which is part of Telenor Group has been operating in Malaysia for a couple of year and is popular in the rural areas. Its aim is to bridge services in largely underbanked and financially underserved communities. Licensed under bank Negara, Valyou has 1,500 cash in merchants nationwide.
“With Valyou being a leader in the International Remittance Mobile Wallet space with a large network penetrating the rural areas in Malaysia; and with Western Union, a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency money movement, having a large number of locations in the receiving countries, this union offers a convergence of convenience for both senders and receivers,” said Prasanna Rao, Chief Executive Officer of Valyou.
“This collaboration is a key enabler in expanding funds payout to a wide network of countries. We are always driven to provide a seamless experience for customers. Today, Valyou sees a significant number of its transactions being sent from rural locations in Malaysia and this corresponds on the receiving side with 80 percent also residing in rural parts of their country. This collaboration doubles down on convenience to our Valyou wallet holders and their receivers, enabling them to now collect funds closer to their homes”, he said.
“We stand for convenient money movement, serving global citizens to help build bridges across economies, geographies and cultures. Through our collaboration with Valyou, we meet the ever-changing technology-led convenience preferences of our established customers as well as reaching out to the unbanked and underbanked communities, further expanding our access in rural Malaysia. We are delighted to share our vision of bettering lives and connecting the global economy together with Valyou,” stated Jeffrey Navarro, Regional Director – Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, Western Union.
“We look forward to working with Western Union as this partnership embodies Valyou and Western Union’s vision to promote greater financial inclusion through digitally enabled mobile wallet services. We have a clear objective to encourage formal remittance and we want to continue doing so through the partnership,” added Prasanna.
Valyou is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, has 24 branches, 17 International Remittance Agents and over 1,500 Cash In Cash Out merchants nationwide.
